Black Hawk Helicopter Nails First Flight With New Digital Cockpit

A Black Hawk attack helicopter equipped with a scalable, fully integrated and open architecture-based cockpit has successfully completed its first test-flight.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Army has flown the first flight of a Black Hawk attack helicopter equipped with a new digital cockpit, Northrop Grumman announced in a news release.

"Northrop Grumman Corporation in partnership with the US Army Prototype Integration Facility and prime contractor Redstone Defense Systems has successfully completed the first flight of the UH-60V Black Hawk helicopter," the release stated on Monday.

Northrop Grumman provided the Integrated Avionics Suite for the UH-60V helicopter, which upgrades the UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters with a digital cockpit, under a contract awarded in 2014, Northrop Grumman noted.

"The scalable, fully integrated and open architecture-based cockpit design replaces older analog gauges with digital electronic instrument displays in the upgraded aircraft," the release explained.

The UH-60V features one of the US Army’s most advanced avionics solutions, enabling the complex missions of the army aviation warfighter and on January 19 it successfully flew for the first time with the digitized cockpit in Huntsville, Alabama, Northrop Grumman added.